What luxury stores in India can learn from Charvet Place

Charvet, headquartered on Place Vendome in Paris, and whose cheapest shirts cost about Rs 25,000, are an indulgence. ( Facebook)Peter Mayle, the author of A Year in Provence, is a sumptuous writer. He writes simply and with wit. And he is an unapologetic lover of the good life. The subject lends itself to conceit. But Mayle is never guilty of snobbery.

In the 90s, Mayle wrote a magazine column called Acquired Tastes on the finer things in life. A collection of the columns is available in online bookstores. Although Mayle wrote the pieces two decades ago, they remain informative and enjoyable.

Mayle’s love of food and drink was apparent in his books on Provence, where he lived for many years after giving up an advertising career in New York. In Acquired Tastes, he also holds forth on fashion. Among others, there is a delectable piece on Charvet shirts ("and so it was with a light step and a trembling wallet that I went to pay a call on Charvet..."). And one on handmade shoes ("You are not here to buy and run. You are committing your feet to posterity, and you must allow at least an hour for your first visit....").

Charvet, headquartered on Place Vendome in Paris, and whose cheapest shirts cost about Rs 25,000, are an indulgence. But handmade shoes, one learns from the book, are an investment. And also an experience. Every detail and the smallest deformity of your feet are noted. The dossier is in permanent possession of the shoemaker. It takes months to deliver the shoes. And you will be called for trials. But once you wear the final product, Mayle suggests, you won’t even feel the shoes on your feet. They are that comfortable Besides, they can last 10 to 20 years. Just ensure you take them for an annual servicing, where "they will be received in the same way that a nursing home welcomes a rich hypochondriac". So while you may have spent, say, Rs 75,000 on a pair, you don’t have to buy a shoe for a decade or two. That works out to Rs 4,000-8,000 a year, an amount affordable to most in the corporate world, and which many spend on shoes every year anyway.

Acquired Tastes also has a chapter on bespoke clothing. What comes through in each column is the quality of service offered at these establishments. The staff is courteous and knowledgeable about the product. This is an area in which India is still found wanting. Now and then I visit the luxury stores in Mumbai, mostly just for the experience. But at times the service is short of world class. And there are occasions when the knowledge of product is shallow. The attendant, still a work-in-progress, stumbles through rehearsed descriptions. A real engagement with the product and customer is missing.

On the other hand, some of the stores are a joy to visit. And when the trembling wallet can afford it, the service is rewarded with a purchase. There is one problem, though. Peter Mayle walked out of Charvet and repaired to the Hemingway bar in the Ritz Carlton across the street. A Mumbaikar steps out into smog coughed out by Deonar.